U.S. patent application number 13/337060 was filed with the patent office on 2012-12-20 for cooling fan with tapered hub.
This patent application is currently assigned to FOXCONN TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to YUNG-PING LIN, JUN-HUI YAN, YONG-KANG ZHANG.
Application Number | 20120321457 13/337060 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47332247 |
Filed Date | 2012-12-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120321457 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
YAN; JUN-HUI ; et
al. |
December 20, 2012 |
COOLING FAN WITH TAPERED HUB
Abstract
A cooling fan includes a fan housing and a rotor received in the
fan housing. The fan housing has an air inlet and an outlet
opposite to the air inlet. The rotor includes a shaft, a hub
engaged with the shaft, and a plurality of rotary blades extending
outwardly from the hub. The hub has an outer surface expanding
along a direction parallel to a central axis of the shaft from the
air inlet to the air outlet.
Inventors: |
YAN; JUN-HUI; (Shenzhen
City, CN) ; ZHANG; YONG-KANG; (Shenzhen City, CN)
; LIN; YUNG-PING; (Tu-Cheng, TW) |
Assignee: |
FOXCONN TECHNOLOGY CO.,
LTD.
Tu-Cheng
TW
FU ZHUN PRECISION INDUSTRY (SHEN ZHEN) CO., LTD.
Shenzhen City
CN
|
Family ID: |
47332247 |
Appl. No.: |
13/337060 |
Filed: |
December 24, 2011 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
415/220 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F04D 29/329 20130101;
F04D 25/0613 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
415/220 |
International
Class: |
F04D 19/00 20060101
F04D019/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jun 15, 2011 |
CN |
201110159753.3 |
Claims
1. A cooling fan comprising: a fan housing having an air inlet and
an outlet opposite to the air inlet; a rotor received in the fan
housing, the rotor comprising a shaft, a hub engaged with the
shaft, and a plurality of rotary blades extending outwardly from
the hub, the hub having an outer surface expanding outwards along a
direction parallel to a central axis of the shaft from the air
inlet to the air outlet.
2. The cooling fan of claim 1, wherein a distance between the outer
surface of the hub and the shaft gradually increases from the air
inlet to the air outlet.
3. The cooling fan of claim 1, wherein the fan housing has a
lateral wall with an inner surface facing the hub, the inner
surface being parallel to the central axis of the shaft.
4. The cooling fan of claim 1, wherein the hub comprises a circular
top wall and an annular wall extending from the top wall towards
the air outlet, an outer surface of the circular top wall of the
hub facing the air inlet being flat, an outer surface of the
annular wall of the hub expanding from the air inlet to the air
outlet.
5. The cooling fan of claim 4, wherein the annular wall of the hub
has an inner surface facing the shaft, the inner surface defining a
cylinder having a constant diameter.
6. The cooling fan of claim 5, wherein the hub receives a stator
therein, and a magnet is attached on the inner surface of the
annular wall and surrounding the stator.
7. A cooling fan comprising: a fan housing having an air inlet and
an outlet opposite to the air inlet; a rotor received in the fan
housing, the rotor comprising a shaft, a hub engaged with the
shaft, and a plurality of rotary blades extending outwardly from
the hub, the hub having an outer surface tapered from the air
outlet to the air inlet.
8. The cooling fan of claim 7, wherein a distance between the outer
surface of the hub and the shaft gradually increases from the air
inlet to the air outlet.
9. The cooling fan of claim 7, wherein the fan housing has a
lateral wall with an inner surface confronting the hub, the inner
surface being parallel to a central axis of the shaft.
10. The cooling fan of claim 7, wherein the hub comprises a
circular top wall and an annular wall extending from the top wall
towards the air outlet, an outer surface of the circular top wall
of the hub facing the air inlet being flat, an outer surface of the
annular wall of the hub expanding from the air inlet to the air
outlet.
11. The cooling fan of claim 10, wherein the annular wall of the
hub has an inner surface facing the shaft, and the inner surface
has a constant diameter.
12. The cooling fan of claim 11, wherein the hub receives a stator
therein, and a magnet is attached on the inner surface of the
annular wall and surrounding the stator.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to cooling fans,
and more particularly to an axial fan with a large airflow.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] Cooling fans are commonly used in combination with heat
sinks for cooling electronic components, such as CPUs. Normally,
the heat sink is arranged on the electronic component to absorb
heat therefrom, while the cooling fan is arranged on the heat sink
to produce forced airflow flowing through the heat sink to take
away the heat.
[0005] Generally, the cooling fan includes a hub and a plurality of
blades extending from the hub. The hub is usually cylindrical and
blocks airflow in an air inlet of the cooling fan. As a result, an
air-volume and an air-pressure of the airflow in the air inlet will
reduce.
[0006] What is needed is a cooling fan which can overcome the
limitations described.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a cooling fan in accordance
to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
[0008] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cooling fan of FIG.
1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0009] Embodiments of the disclosure will now be described in
detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0010] Referring to FIG. 1, a cooling fan 100 includes a fan
housing 10 and a rotor 20 received in the hosing 10. The fan
housing 10 has a cubical configuration and includes a top plate 11,
a bottom plate 13, and a lateral wall 15 interconnecting the top
plate 11 and the bottom plate 13. Each of the top plate 11 and the
bottom plate 13 has a rectangular shape similar to each other. The
top plate 11 defines a circular air inlet 110.
[0011] The bottom plate 13 defines a circular air outlet 130
corresponding to the air inlet 110 of the top plate 11.
[0012] Referring to FIG. 2, the bottom plate 13 includes a
supporting plate 16 at the air outlet 130. The supporting plate 16
is connected to the bottom plate 13 by a plurality of ribs (not
shown). A central tube 17 extends from the supporting plate 16. The
central tube 17 receives a bearing 30 therein. The lateral wall 15
is annular and has an inner surface 150 surrounding a receiving
room 18.
[0013] The rotor 20 includes a hub 21 and a plurality of rotary
blades 23 connecting a circumference of the hub 21. The hub 21
includes a circular top wall 210 and an annular wall 212 extending
downwards from the top wall 210. The top wall 210 and the annular
wall 212 cooperatively define a space 215 in the hub 21. The top
wall 210 is flat and faces the air inlet 110. The rotor 20 includes
a shaft 214 mounted with the hub 21. A top end of the shaft 214 is
fixedly engaged in a central portion of the top wall 210 of the hub
21. The shaft 214 is assembled in the bearing 30 and rotatably
mounted on the supporting plate 16. The inner surface 150 of the
lateral wall 15 is parallel to a central axis O of the shaft
214.
[0014] The annular wall 212 of the hub 21 has an outer surface 218.
The outer surface 218 converges (tapers) in an upward direction,
i.e., the outer surface 218 of annular wall 212 slants towards the
central axis O of the shaft 214 from the air outlet 130 of the
bottom plate 13 to the air inlet 110 of the top plate 11. Put
another way, a distance between the outer surface 218 of the hub 21
and the shaft 214 expands gradually in the downward direction along
the air inlet 110 of the top plate 11 to the air outlet 130 of the
bottom plate 13. Accordingly, the air inlet 110 of the top plate 11
is larger than the air outlet 130 of the bottom plate 13. The
annular wall 212 of the hub 21 has an inner surface facing the
shaft 214, the inner surface defines a cylinder having a constant
diameter. The hub 21 receives a magnet 25 attached on the inner
surface of the annular wall 212. A stator 50 surrounds the central
tube 17 in the space 215.
[0015] During operation, the rotor 20 is rotated by the interaction
of the alternating magnetic field established by the stator 50 and
the magnetic field of the magnet 25. The rotary blades 23 thus
produce forced airflow to take away heat generated in an
application environment that employs the cooling fan 100. Since the
outer surface 218 of the hub 21 tapers upwards to make the air
inlet 110 of the top plate 11 larger than the air outlet 130 of the
bottom plate 13, during rotation of the rotor 20, a block of the
hub 21 for the forced airflow reduces, and the cooling fan 100 can
produce larger air-volume and air-pressure in the inlet 110. Thus
cooling fan 100 can operate smoothly and quietly, and the quality
of the cooling fan 100 obtained should be good. In this embodiment,
the cooling fan 10 can increase 5% air-volume and 48% air-pressure
than a conventional fan without variable outer wall of a hub.
[0016] It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous
characteristics and advantages of certain embodiments have been set
forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the
structures and functions of the embodiments, the disclosure is
illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in
matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the
principles of the disclosure to the full extent indicated by the
broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are
expressed.
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